At least two Douglas County churches will be hosting services honoring the work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. —though only one will be doing so on the national holiday established in his honor.

Golden Memorial United Methodist Church will host its annual celebration of the life of King Monday at 11 a.m. at the church at 6903 Forrest Ave. in Douglasville.

The keynote speaker is scheduled to be Larry Moore, assistant principal at Douglas County High School, who will give a motivational speech, said church youth ministries director Valerie Minor-Smith.

She said the annual event also is set to include an interpretive dance performance. The annual King service typically includes a performance or event in which “we try to incorporate our young people,” she said.

Golden has its own history in the Civil Rights Movement, Minor-Smith noted. Members assisted those traveling in the famed Mule Train led by the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy that was part of the nationwide Poor People’s Campaign in 1968. The train, a convoy of wagons pulled by mules to help signify the historic struggle of black Americans, stopped for the night at what is now Stewart Middle School as part of its 500-mile trek from Marks, Miss., to Atlanta.

Another service honoring King is planned for Sunday, the day before the holiday, at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd at 3099 Chapel Hill Road in Douglasville.

The Atlanta-based Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will host its annual MLK service of worship and celebration Sunday at 3 p.m. The event is open to the public.

Dr. Ulysses Burley, a medical researcher at Northwestern University, is scheduled as speaker. Burley specializes in social justice’s relation to disease, according to the church web site.

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